


A Phone Call with Fujisaki's Mother (and the Transcript of a Voicemail)

by TheGH



Series: Cherry Flavoured Conversations [2]
Category: 30歳まで童貞だと魔法使いになれるらしい | 30-sai Made Doutei da to Mahou Tsukai ni Nareru Rashii (TV)
Genre: Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28630266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGH/pseuds/TheGH
Summary: In which Fujisaki is frustrated and...she cries.Prompt: Day 9 (Family)This is a bit short (and angsty), but I hope you'll enjoy it all the same! (The ending is a little bit...lighter?)Text written in [ ] are thoughts (I still can't format properly on here, sorry).
Series: Cherry Flavoured Conversations [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094954
Comments: 9
Kudos: 19
Collections: Cherry Magic - 31 Days of Prompts Can Turn you into a Wizard!





	A Phone Call with Fujisaki's Mother (and the Transcript of a Voicemail)

Phone calls with her mother were, thankfully, not as frequent as they used to be. Unfortunately, they were still as unbearable. Whenever they talked, even if it was only for a few minutes, Fujisaki was left drained, angry, and sometimes, in tears. Tonight, was no exception. 

She had desperately wanted to ignore her mother’s call but didn’t have a good enough reason to do so – on a Saturday night, she couldn’t exactly hide behind work, and using friends would only land her in trouble (“Wasting time with friends? How predictable! How useless!” her mother would have said). [Nearly thirty and I’m still terrified of being scolded by my mother], she thought. Fujisaki had the sudden urge to laugh at how pathetic she sounded.

“Are you well?” her mother asked.

“Yes, I am. Thank you for asking,” she answered robotically. Fujisaki braced herself. Every conversation began like this, a quick exchange of pleasantries before it devolved into a mess. “Have you both been eating properly? Are you looking after yourselves?” she asked politely.

Her mother huffed, “Of course! But, you would know that if you weren’t living so far away.” Fujisaki couldn’t roll her eyes far enough. [It’s been how many years and she still won’t let it go.] “When do you plan to visit us?” She made no reply to that. “It has been too long. The others will talk.”

“Ah, yes…I’m sorry,” she said simply. It wasn’t that she hadn’t gone back on purpose, (besides, she missed her father and wanted to visit him), she had just been busy with work.

“Have you had a look at the new photos we sent you from the matchmaking agency? There are some good matches…”

Fujisaki zoned out then, navigating the rest of the conversation as if on autopilot. By now, she had realised that when it came to interactions with her mother, the best option was to keep her replies short. There was no point in unnecessarily prolonging her own misery, and no point trying to talk to someone who wouldn’t listen. So, in the end, she just kept repeating some variation of ’Yes’, ‘No’, ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’m sorry’.

“Are you even listening to me?” her mother asked.

“Yes, but I’ve told you before, I have no interest-”

“What on earth are you talking about? Interest? You don’t need to be interested. You need to stop being stubborn and settle down. I don’t have to keep reminding you that you are fast approaching thirty. What will you do when you are older? Your father and I cannot keep looking after you!” 

Fujisaki bit her tongue. She wanted to say (not for the first time), that she would never marry for the sole reason of having a caregiver in her old age. [There’s no point], she thought, [I’ve told her so many times before, but she just refuses to listen]. For a moment, she even considered telling her mother straight out that she was aromantic and asexual. After all, it was one way to forcing her mother to drop the topic of marriage permanently. She shook her head, smiling ruefully. That would only create more problems than it would help solve, and she didn’t think that she had the energy left to explain herself – especially not to someone who wouldn’t understand. 

“I only want what is best for you, I always have.” Fujisaki winced. Was she hearing herself? “If you will not do it for yourself, then do it for us,” her mother pleaded. “What will your aunts and uncles think? How will we ever face the rest of our extended family?”

Fujisaki sighed inwardly. [Why does she continue to ask questions that she already knows the answer to?] They had this exact conversation almost every time they spoke. She wanted to tell her mother not to bother calling her in future and to go and yell at a brick wall instead, since she obviously wasn’t interested in a word she said. (But she wouldn't, because that would be too rude.) “I’m sorry, mother, but my answer is still ‘No’. I won’t get married.” 

Her mother sighed. “I only wish you would see that I am doing this out of love for you.” Right. [So much for a parent’s unconditional love], Fujisaki thought bitterly. When she was young, she had loved her mother without a single shadow of doubt. Now, it felt like she loved her out of obligation. Her vision started to blur. The thought pained her greatly.

“Well, it seems like there is nothing else to say,” her mother said, sounding resigned. “I won’t send you any more of those profiles, then. You are sure that you won’t change your mind?”

She blinked quickly, trying to keep her voice steady. “No, I’m sorry. I’ll visit soon. And I’ll call again, I promise,” she said willing the tears that were pooling in her eyes to go away.

“Forget it,” her mother said, with a note of finality in her voice, “all we do is end up arguing anyway.”

“I’m”–the call disconnected abruptly–“sorry.” From the way her mother hung up on her now, she didn’t expect to hear from her for some time. Although her relationship with her mother had become the source of much heartache, Fujisaki still loved her. It’s why these phone calls never got easier. 

The apartment was silent – the call now ended, the television still muted. In the stillness and safety of her home, Fujisaki let herself cry.

***

Voicemail received 09/??/20?? at 11:48am:  
-Begin-

“Hello? Are you there?”

… “Oh, it went to voicemail. Well, then. Please call when you can. I am so sorry, my daughter, I had no idea what your mother-”

“Don’t think I cannot hear you from the kitchen! I may be old, but I can-”

“Yes, yes, darling. Anyway, I am so sorry. I didn’t know your mother called on Saturday. Are you very upset? Don’t mind her, really. She was just angry, you know how she is. She didn’t mean what she said-”

“What exactly do you mean by that? I meant every word!”

“Darling, enough already. I didn’t say anything all this time because I thought you could resolve your issues together, but- I cannot let this happen again. If you continue to act like this, we will lose our daughter for good. Is that what you want? Please, just let me speak.”

… “Fine!”

“Anyways, you must be working, so I’ll finish the message soon. I just want you to know that I don’t care if you don’t marry, I just want you to be happy. Despite what she may say, you mother only wants to see you happy, too. I know, I know. Your mother is old-fashioned, but I am sure she will come around eventually. Please call us when you can. And do visit us when you get the chance. It has been years since you moved out, but this house still feels too big for just your mother and I. I am not sure I’ll ever get used to it. Never forget that we love you very mu-”

“Ask her if she is ea- Ow!”

“What was that?”

“Is she eating properly?”

“Darling, she isn’t on the line. This is a voicemail-”

-End-  
This message reached the maximum voicemail length and was disconnected. Your message will be saved for seven days.

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to a sad song (on repeat), and this is the result. Sorry! Have I become public enemy #1 in the Cherry Magic fandom for making Fujisaki cry? I promise the next one will be lighter than this!
> 
> My take is that Fujisaki and her mother probably don't have a great relationship (amongst other things, she just wants Fujisaki to get married and well, we know that won't happen), but her father is more understanding (and thus, she's closer to him). I feel like Fujisaki moved to the city to find herself and escape her controlling mother - and that's why she's so strong and kind. I should clarify that I don't think Fujisaki's mother is an outright bad person, I think that she truly wants the best for her daughter but her attempts to help are misguided.  
> I hope that I managed to convey all that through this work (even though it is a bit short).
> 
> As always, please overlook any grammatical/spelling errors, but do let me know if there are any cultural mistakes. I'm still getting used to formatting on AO3, so I do apologise if it's hard to read. The format for the date is DD/MM/YYYY (I made it the 9th because, it's the prompt for Day 9).
> 
> Also, please let me know what you think about this fic! I loved reading the comments from last time :)


End file.
